Yielding upright traffic marker



June 24, 1930. M. E; HARTZLER T YIELDING UPRIGHT TRAFFIC MARKER File d. March 15, 1929 1 VENTORS,

'2 e blow ofthe oneomin wheel is delivered; the

Patented Juile 24, 1930 T TYLESL .YIELDING VTI RIGHT T AFFIG AR R Applieation filed March i5,1929;;Seria1 '1 ]'o;347,325.

Th e preserit i rivehtien*r eletee pO upright traffic markers. Q 111 vgeneral 'tlfe'se IILELIkGIffi comprise, in 'eachl ease, a panel [of flexible resilient watfip reef material adapt- 5 ed to ebe pesitionedingtlielpzith of vehiculir tr aveL Normally the panel'ekfiendsfipward because of its; resiliency ggmd displays some eerthof indication ,fo :be obs erved by the .ppreaching driveiflfj The [panel remains ,10 uprigl lt ,until it is encountered by'thejvheel of the eneqming vehicle. Then it is-foreed down flatyon the'pavenientsby the'fwei ht oi the vehicle andremairis so while the :wfieel is passing over it soon as freed the panel .1; springsbaek to ifs normal upright iridicatihg position: I .f mafkers'fofi this' 1{ind. .11erefi0fere proposed, the engageiiient f a'ny p oftiOn the marker the Wheel: of the vehicle bends the wh ele panel 'lhu s, 110 matter ,where the :paneLI is-bent, theorefi lcally .at- 1eas't, aleng it"s entirefbending (axis. Consequently every blew produces alii'aximuin of bending Wear. One, ob'j e ct Of} the pr s- 1 11; inventidn is" to evoi dgthis bending weal throughoutjflthe leng thl vof the p gtfiel flzihd :tojprevidege $131110 tu're' wherein each" blew bends .et frioste only pa rtf of the entire ingliea-fgipgioiftiohv bf th enem if ixwh r.

marker 1 Aggaln 1 market, i qhereby; ign

V the lweal; is likelyifie be'excesive fab 'one oir more glven pomts .111 the marker and when I the ma'rkefisj worn out jzttf these points, it can" on1'y be Putin proper the' entire blade. or penel'fencl i'epilae ipfg it by a construction such that; the pdgfifs; that are exces sively out replacing: the entlre' paneli The 'p "0i" s else refquue a 'qentirep ariel'efiierytime a lithe meflg'enf Another Qbfje w. iii hiS i i i v cle i T v felon jwherfe'f celtf'aih 'z ories "Within the m the. niar'lier' will-fellow the p s gge nfinzii'keiei of theclass deci'ibed, j befuween the; 1nd

nass mble im f 1 k 'th'roijg these openn igs.

- 'orejfor gut: any portion f the uptight indi cating 'I nenibe v N In malrkere of' this @1 5 heretefofre jn use, .the, ,rubbei: :isires of the (incoming traific SFlEikGQfi/hfll'd nietellsujrfalceg This delivers a sharp blowfo tirejiri ealchjnstanee'. Anethen' object, of 'ithe invention .to redu'c'e the hardness of these blows: and: thus preleng' the "life. of the marker, ob ii'ousily, 31E50 redujc i esifient riibb'er, the rews delix ered byjthe pi es mfefiuhioned enfd 'renglerecL less i seveije.

" Otlher ob'jeets'bf the inventionjjareto con- 's t-ruc't 'al ma'rkef of low cost, capable (if being 'e s hbled; to, provide vthecomposite marker and, one whielie' wille .eeeilyijinstalled" and 70 when S0 installed Willbe efli'eielit and dfi fable iihder, ell I the. vai-ying "cenditions pier-v c r I In attaining 5 thes ei @q:s,-we preferably "fi flk 1 t m rke byi sefi l g a l er 0f ec in an ns u 1 e ch I h e, .e e. p ghU a otb w si frkjpya thicker "incl" more "substantial base,

iii'bl fte'e but] the leaf P v m ntf) L j' ihefge o s a l 6o 7 the. fo wglyd edge ofiethei markerp base of .4 v .6 quicklyi aiid readily repa rechhav lng readlly interchangeable artswm made :up 1 arts if need not be .co'mbin'ed at all times into a composite marker. In many instances the single sections may be'strung along the pavement like themarker buttons now in common use and in many instances themarkings may "beplaced onthese paneled markers strung T along the pavement so as to be read by the ,inow pass to a consideration of the fuller disclosure of the invention set forthlinthe following detailed description and accomdriv'er as he approaches, each section: fo1'n1- ingone letter or part of-Pthe full word or information to be conveyed by the stringof single markers; i p

With these general observationswe may panying. drawing. The scope of the invent'onwill be particularly pointed out in the appendedv claims.

In sai d drawing? "l is a perspective 7 view of a' mark'er' constructed 1nl accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 lsa V similar: View illustrating a modification j a I wherein the upright portions are quite narrow; Fig. 3 isasimilar View illustrating'a gmodifica'tion-wherein the upright portions I 7 have narrow 'supporting stems and broader faces for the lettering or other indicia to bel placedtliereon;'Fig. 4; illustrates a'modified section'or unit wherein the base has at v v i isa side elevation of-one of the sections 'il lustrated in Fig. 1 Fig. 6: a plan View of the sameggFig'. Tis a sideelevation'illusthe fullwidth'of the upper portion; Fig. 5

trating "a modification wherein the section of the marker is secured to a 'bas'e ,plate which may be 'placed upon the surface of.v

- the pavement; 'Fig fS is'a perspective view 'of a modified section of uniform width'in associationwitha spacing section; and Fig.

9 is an elevat on of the modified section of d Fig. 8 showing in dotted lines'how the upright panelbends 'downwhen driven-over. 'Throughoutthese views like characters refer ,to like parts, r

- Referring to the drawing iii-det il ides; ignates thedisplayisections, Bthecore'npon which the display sectionsfl are threaded to build up" the complete marker'and G the 7 7 pla portion 11 forms" the back-ground of 1 a the 'letteriorother indicating symbol 9'. upon i ts'face and: preferably is'bl'ack. The symj; i ,;b;ol,,u-'pon'the face of lit'isg'iven' a colorwhich will havenie best visibility underall Cir-.-

jcurrflstances'lof j serviceg This": is' usually a 1 federal yellow, orange, or chome orange. The deslgnating character 1s molded at the same time that the entire sectlon is molded and consequently is'integral with the portion 11.1 The rubber constituting the 'up- 7 right portion 11, which'maybe referred to as a leaf, panel or blade, is a high grade resilient' rubber which is capable, whenmade in the thin leaf-like form" illustrated, lof

promptly resuming its upright position foln lowing each flattening by the'bl'ows ofthe traffic and of-so acting continually for a long period of service. 7

If desired the interior of each sectionmay be reinforced by a fabric applied during r v v "manufacture'so as to lie 'near 'ltssurface. 1 ,Such a fabric 12'pre'ferably extends through 7 base 10 and the upright portion 11 as sho'wn in Fig.4. This matter of reinforcement is" one which maybe employed or not as desired.:' 7

Thebase-lO as been smears molded integral with the upright. 11: and islikewise of rubber, reinforced or ?not,l 'as desired. The upper surface of the base is; curved as to provide a thin free edge 'l 'o verwl'rich the traffic will pass without appreciable Jolt and. which will fit more or less closely ir-, j

regularities in the surface of thepavement downward toward the oncomingitraffic so 7 jC. The under surface 14}; is fiat so as; to fit Y against the pavement. [As shown, thebase 7 7 10 has a longitudinal dimension .greaterthan that of the panelll. Preferably the panel I is positioned centrally so that the project.-

.ing portions of the'base at each end of are equal; The rear portions of th e d of the base which extend beyond theupright f ,11 are curved downward so as toform a lip 15 similar to thellip 13. Because ofthedifference in the dimensions. of the "base 10 the blade 11,'s'paces 16fare providedfbetween adja'centlpanels 11.. In service the 7 wheels: of a vehicle 'may. often passthrough these spaces without! striking 'jone of the panels. Thus a rgood dealof thetrafii'cfmay pass over the base of the marker:fwithout flattening down the panels and therebythe i by having themarker divided into sections 1 wmin j e cl ifi i ees eas it wheels'fto pass through one ofthe spaces116 will atmostonlyflatten out'one ofi th pg lg [11. This; also contributes to tl'ielife of the V U f 1" 1. it i; 120 The base ls'prefe'rably] secured "to a" marker.)

long core Biand the latter "inftl l rl is vselifeof the, marker isprol'onged." Likewise v if anchor bolts '5 17 i This; core 'obvibll sly may 512s 1stal'rediff'erent. forms. but it is preferably a rolled "steel barf". Preferably informing the seo'tions 'a mandril is used so as to mol d the 1 sectiensl with a. transverse" openingg 'jl8 throughthe lbaseif'" This, opening .isflarg e w a enough to' 'receive the bar Bfand consee placedwithin theimoldand inoldeddirectly quently when it comes to assembling the parts of the marker it is only necessaryto slip-thexdesired sections 1 upon the. core. Each base IO-is also preferably provided with an vopening-119 through which one of the anchoring bolts '17 may befpa-s'sed if desired; Insuch case .thecore B is also pro- I videdwith an opening for the passage of out that in ordinary practice the :tops :of

the anchor bolt as: clearly shown ina Fig. 5'. By way of illustration it. may begpointed the sections A extend about seven inches 7 above-the pavement and the thickness of. the

, yet a wide face'iis provided for the lettering base 10t aflil3S center in such'cas'e wouldbe about three-fourths inch. i

' v Obviously; both the ;,base iand portionsof the sections amay; be considerably varied and stillcome withinthe purview of the invention. Thusfa s shown. in Fig. 2, the uprights 20 of the sections. Av are quite narrow; Because ofthis, the -spaces-2l-between them are =relatively 'wide and there fore the liability'ofthe fingers being istrickg en down by the Wheels of; aniapproaching vehicle is much less than would be the case 'Werethefingers wider. Even-though the finger-s20 are quiten'arrow still. their for.

Ward faces may be large en'oughto provide for designating characters such as the letter O; designated 22,-which requires three of the fingers tos completez it. i Even thought-he character is broken-by .t'lienspacesfyet itwill be sufliciently "clear 1 to} tl1e;driver.'.of an oncoining vehicle. The: sections: -A.: a in this '5 modification may beisecured toxthe pavement as desiredp- A core is shown extend ng through-them just as in the case of the section's'A; above considered t-Herfe too there are the screw openings 19,: heretofore de- In -F 3' another modification is shown in'w-hich th'e fsections' A are provided with uprights having cylinder steins 23 and flat faces-245 In thisywaywthe' resiliency ofthe upright may be fi consid fably;z'increased; by reason of the slender resilient"'stems;23 z and o'r' otlien designations-lo be. placed on; the

- marker. f In" this instance ithe: letter .U,

-face's "24 and the"2letteri:S; tdesignat also of such width as t qune tIwoj of; the {faces 241* In i this instanceathe lseg'meritsI A iaay b secured :to the pavement as desired.

They -liave i-th'ev'same 1 'core opening 118." and screw; openings 5119 as i revifo'us'ly aescrib d. 7 "Instead 0f attaching the varl'ous sect ons ori'thei' r modifications and; A?;toxa*long core B; I it" -islcleai j that atheyf might be indi- *vidually 'se'c'uredfto the pavement by: anchor bolts as is commonly done with round markers; 'sL1ch' "as disclosed EfHartzllers prior application 3 Serial No; 290,2321, filed July'Y5,1928- Insuch case thecore may be location. 1 '3, Obviously inthe baseof the section atathe time it is manufactured. Such a constructionis illustrated in Fig. 4." There the section A has the same, lengthwise dimension throughout,

that is, the samc dimension. lengthwise of the markeruand' transverse to the direction 1 mentioned. The aupright of this section -is I also a little more stout than the sections of Fig. 1; The difi'erences in, stout-ness" are -mere matters of design and. obviously may be varied as desired;

i Whether the anchor bolts be passed through the ends of the core B, as shown in Fig.1, or down through-"the central open ings in thebases of the sections, the'conmonly it -comprises merely a screw-bolt or or'cylinder 33 of lead. Ordinarily the pavement is' drilled and/the lead is set in place in the drilled hole. driven'down into the lead anchor or a screwcommon and need not-be, more fully de-' 'struction' of the bolt may be the same. Comdrive pin 17 which is anchored by a washer bolt is screwed into fa'nutcontained in; the i same. 1 These anchor-bolt "arrangements ;are

device appliedto a pavement-marker ,is

shown in BritishiPatent No. 265,803 of 1926,

' Instead of securing the .marlrer sections o directly!v to the; pavement ,as inv the previous .cases mentioned the sections may be 7 connected toaf plate 34=jas illustrated in Fig.7. In such casethe core 35, whetheritbe along I core such as the core B, or a short core such F "asthe core 813 will be secured tof-theplate by ascrew-bolt 361 which isthreadedfl at its *lowerlen'd into: a threaded opening in the platter. The plate maywholda number of;

sections "A or their equivalents "orthere mayp" be an individual plate-tor 1 each section, as

'-des 1red. ?*The forward efdge ofithe-p'late is; 1 turned" down as shown'la't semi the (rear edge-of the plate-is similarlyturned down I as'sh'ownattll. InJtliisWay the front and :rear edgesof the platey 'orovide sharp edges. which bite into the pavement when the-plate islaid on thepaveme'ht andsubjected to useg" With.thisconstruction it islnot necessary to provide anchor bolt openings. in theipave ment, butfthe! biting action of: the plate; will i isu'flice. to hold the '-mar ke r in thedesired;

i se'ctions --A ol un form I i like thejsections Aflmay be moldedjw tlr an opening 40 for the passage of a bar orzthe a so: I

Then'the drive pin is t SCX'IbGCl. An earlyexampleof an anchorlng alike, and such-sections beassembled with spacing sections A similarly provided' with coreopenings' 42. 'These sections A and A may be alternately placed upon a I bar B and the same effect will be obtained as in the case of the sections A, Where spacing sections are not'used butthe bases are given "a dimension lengthwise of the bar-B greater than the face of the panel l1.- The sections A and A may be secured to the pavement through the bar B or they may be secured to the pavement directly as may be required by the circumstances or may seem 1 j best to the designer. The holes 19 maybe used for this purpose, as heretofore de- SCllbQClf L The section A is shaped somewhat differ- V ently fremtheipreviously described sections.

This difference is found principally at the; point-where the upper pan'elit l joins the base 45." The lower rend of the panel curves later-' ally at 46 into the-upper part of the base 45,- leaving a shoulder 47 along its lower 7 edge, as clearly shown. All parts are molded together as one. 1 When traffie from the left, as viewed in Fig.9, strikes thefblade 44 it is pressed down into'the dottedline'positmn '48'at the right; when traffic from the opposite direction strikes down the blade 44 then 36 it takes the position 49 shown in dotted lines at the left.- 2}? Obviously;-thespacer sections A maybe husectwithfmain panels, of various shapes. I The illustratedassociation of sections A? and 3 A is merely typical,

a :Ag aimthe 'markersmay in each' instance 7 fconsist'of asin'gle section andthese sections a may be 'strung"-along the highway in a fstraightior curved line'and: bear indications :4 upon them for'the'guidanceof the'traflic. 7 Thus, instead of havinga compositemarke I like that shown 1n .Fig. 1 sextendlng trans- -versely2of the direction of travel of the V 'jraffic, a number of separate sections bearing, i the same guiding markings maybe strung p "out inrthe'direction ofitravel. In this case pthe word rstopif-vvould be read by theo'n f 7 a -comingdrivers the samei'as if transversely J I 1 arranged as in Figi 1,but"eaclrletoer would. 150'" be read as thefdriverapproached it, thefirst abeingjthe lettenS and'the'latter vthe letter hout departing the pavement.

invention: by claims.

the terms of the appended "What we'claim as new and desire to se I cure by a patent of the United States is 1. A traflic marker construction of the class descrlbed,comprisinga normally up' standing display" portion of inherently-flex ible material and a base portionintegral with and of the same material as said-Vdis play; portion and having a substantially:

horizontaliunder surface for engaging the surface of the pavement, a coreof metalin saidbase portion, and an anchor foren} gaging said core and securing the marker to 2. A" *traffic marker constr uction 0f the class described, comprising. a plurality of marker units, each unitzcomprising a'normally upstanding display portion of inher- V p ently flexible material i and a base portion integral with and of the samematerial as said display portion and having a substana tially horizontal under face for engaging the surface of the pavement, a core ofwmetal extending through the base *portions of all of said units,- and a plurality of' anchors for engaging said core and securing the-complete marker, made up of said -units,ft'o.the

pavement. J

' 3. A trafiie. marker construction of the class described, comprising l a unitary 'mem-'- ber of inherently fleXibl'e-Ymaterial consist ing of anormally upstanding yielding dis play member'and a relativelystout'baselying forward of the 'displaymember and hav-f 'ing its forward edge sloping fdownward toward the trafiic and itsiunder iface'sube loo stantially horizontal to rest on the surface. of the pavementya metal core in said base,

and an choring means for engaging said core to secure'the marker to'thevpavement.

4:. A trafiic marker co'nstruction"--of the ing of anormallyj upstanding yielding dis,- play memberand a relativelystout base lying forwardf of the'display,member with its class described, comprisingafunitaryi nember of 'inherently- Y flexible: material jcons stg its upper "surface sloping downward toward. V the trafiic and its under surface jsub'stantiah .lyphorizontal to 'reston :the surface of the pavement and havinga transverse opening through: it for the positioningof avcore'.

I; 5. "A tr affic'fmarker construction rofilzthe class-described; comprising a plurality of marker units, each unit,comprising ianorig o mallyl upstanding yielding displaykmenr ber. of inh erently flexiblegmaterial anda g the same material as ,said I display I. member and extending forward of said memberwith V itsfforward edge sloping downward-toward i l the trafiic ancliitssundefriface substantially ,,horizonta l-to' rest onthe' surface ofthe'pavement Y and having 'awtransverse opening a through it' for the placing 1 of t a V core, the

relatively stout base integral with I and of'. Y

iso 7 openings of the marker units being aligned when said units are assembled side by side to compose the assembled structure.

6. A composite traflic marker of the class described, comprising a plurality of units,

each unit comprising a normally upstanding yielding display member of inherently flexible material-and arelatively stout base having a transverse opening through it, a 10 bar extending through the said openings of a plurality of said units, and means for securing said bar to the pavement. 7.'A traflic marker construction of the class described, comprising an integral 5 unitary member of inherently flexible mav terial throughout, consisting of a stout block-like base and a normally upstanding display blade, said base having an opening through it adapted to extend substantially horizontally When the marker is in service, said opening being provided for the passage of an anchoring core by which the base may 7 be secured to the pavement, and said blade extending upward from the upper face of said base to serve as an indicating means to approaching trafiic and being relatively thin in the direction of the trafiic so as to'flex readily relative to saidfbase when pressed down by the Wheels of traflic and to spring backby reason of its inherent resiliency once said Wheels are past. a V In Witness whereof, We hereunto subscribe ournames this 13th day of March,

A. D. 1929. v MELVIN E.'-HARTZLER. THOMAS H; FERGUSON. 

